Bitcoin retreated from Asian session highs along with losses in US stock futures as Iran stepped up attacks in the Middle East and reportedly hit an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia.
The leading cryptocurrency fell back below $66,000 after hitting a high of nearly $67,000 in the early Asian hours. S&P 500 e-mini futures fell to 6,790, down 1.4% on the day, reversing an early gain to 6,857. Meanwhile, oil prices continued to trade higher by over 7% on both sides of the Atlantic.
Iran has reportedly stepped up missile attacks on US assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, according to multiple open source intelligence (OSINT) sources on X. It also attacked Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery, said the widely followed War & Gore OSINT handle. Aramco is the world’s largest oil producing company.
Meanwhile, according to the BBC, Israel carried out another round of airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting Iran’s leading regional proxy, Hezbollah.
Iran’s attacks in neighboring countries are aimed at increasing the cost of the conflict for the United States, according to Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares.
“Iran’s strategy to date has been to raise the cost to the US of maintaining the conflict by launching attacks on neighboring countries and trying to disrupt the flow of oil and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz,” he told CoinDesk in an email.
“Wars are generally inflationary, driving up commodity prices and increasing fiscal deficits, and despite an initial knee-jerk reaction when the conflict began,” he added, hinting at potential for appreciation in perceived value assets like bitcoin.
The conflict started on Saturday after the US and Israel attacked Israel in what has been described as a pre-emptive move to cripple its missile arsenal and nuclear ambitions. So far, bitcoin has shown no signs of demand for sanctuary.
7:42 UTC: Adding comments from 21Shares.
